1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of automated manufacturing and more particularly, to programming systems for manufacturing operations.
2. Background Information
Manufacturing operations with multiple locations require portability, or the ability to transfer information related to the manufacture of a single product among different assembly lines and different assembly sites. Manufacturing data thus should be available to all sites and assembly lines. For example, in a manufacturing process for a specific printed circuit board or panel, specific components, such as capacitors, are provided on the assembly line according to a central specification. The specification details the components, and permitted tolerances, to be used for the specific product being manufactured.
Typically, manufacturing operations run continuously so that in the event of some problem, the manufacturing process should not be interrupted. Thus, if an operator of a specific assembly line faces a problem, for example a component required by the global specification has run out, the local operator may perform a local solution, for example using lower quality components than specified in the global specification in order to permit manufacturing to continue. At a later time, an expert on the global specification can assess the local problem and determine whether the change is suitable for the entire manufacturing operation at all sites or assembly lines.
A specific example can occur in a global electronics manufacturing operation for a circuit board or panel. If all the stock of a certain capacitor is used up, a local operator may select a substitute capacitor, for example one with a similar effect but having slightly different lead wire sizes or tolerances. The substitution can require a change in the automated quality control system, which typically has a camera, that reads circuit boards to measure the dimensions of each chip and connection for comparison with vision information to obtain quality assurance. The vision information must be modified so that the circuit boards manufactured with the substitute local part are not rejected. In order to maintain proper standardization and information flow, the global manufacturer must be informed of the local change at some point. The manufacturer for example may want to change the global standardization specification based on satisfactory local changes.
Managing data from a number of different sites thus becomes a problem while attempting to maintain standardization and centralized data of products. The result is having local copies of data widely distributed, without knowing how to manage, view or organize the data.
The present invention provides a system for managing electronics manufacturing data on a geographically-distributed basis. The system includes a processor, a data storage device operably connected to the processor, the data storage device storing manufacturing standardization data and a plurality of electronic manufacturing data sets, each of the plurality of electronic manufacturing data sets corresponding to a local manufacturing process, and a difference editor executable on the processor to display differences between the at least one of the electronic manufacturing data sets and the manufacturing standardization data.
xe2x80x9cGeographically-distributedxe2x80x9d assembly lines as defined herein are defined as physically-separated assembly lines, whether in a same building or in various worldwide locations.
Advantageously, the differences between the data sets and the standardization data can be easily viewed using the difference editor. xe2x80x9cManufacturing standardization dataxe2x80x9d as defined herein is a desired set of data for a manufacturing process.
The data storage device may include a server for providing the manufacturing standardization data and a control system for providing a first of the plurality of electronic manufacturing data sets, the processor being located at the control system.
The present invention also provides a method for managing electronics manufacturing data, in which the data comprises first and second sets. The first and second sets each comprise data structures stored in at least one computer-readable storage medium, that correspond to one another but that may differ in the specific data they comprise. The method includes retrieving from the at least one computer-readable storage medium at least a portion of a first data structure from the first set, retrieving from the at least one computer-readable storage medium at least a portion of a second data structure corresponding to the second set, and permitting observation of at least one difference between the first and second data structures.
The storage medium may comprise first and second servers, with the first set of electronics manufacturing data being stored on the first server and the second set of electronics manufacturing data being stored on the second server. The first and second sets of electronics manufacturing data each may reside in a separate, respective database, and the first and second data structures may be objects.
The observation of at least one difference may be made on the basis of a graphical display and/or textual display.
The present invention also provides for a method for managing of electronics manufacturing data, in which the data comprises non-local data and local data, and the method includes the steps of permitting non-local electronics manufacturing data to be modified by a first set of persons, permitting local electronics manufacturing data to be modified by a second set of persons, and permitting a comparison between local electronics manufacturing data wherein the first and second sets of persons are not identical. The comparison may include displaying differences between the local electronics manufacturing data and the non-local electronics manufacturing data, through for example highlighting.
The present invention also provides a manufacturing system comprising a first assembly line having a first controller, the first controller containing a first set of manufacturing data related to a product manufactured by the first assembly line, a server providing a second set of manufacturing data to the first controller, and a display displaying differences between the first set of manufacturing data and the second set of manufacturing data. The second set of manufacturing data may be a standardization specification for the product and the product may be a printed circuit board.
The display preferably includes a first window for the first set of manufacturing data and a second window for the second set of manufacturing data. The first set of data may include information relating to a plurality of electric components.
Still further, the present invention provides a printed circuit board assembly line comprising at least one placement machine for placing components on a printed circuit board, a controller connected to the placement machine, and a display connected to the controller for comparing a first set of information regarding the components and a second set of information regarding desired characteristics for the components.
Another method of the present invention provides a method for displaying differences between a first set of electronics manufacturing data and a second set of electronics manufacturing data. The method includes displaying the first set of electronics manufacturing data on a section of a display, the first set of electronics manufacturing data including a list of components being used in an assembly line, displaying the second set of electronics manufacturing data on an other section of the display, the second set of electronics manufacturing data including another list of component desired to be manufactured on the assembly line, and displaying differences between the first and second set of electronics manufacturing data.
The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a printed circuit board comprising the steps of conveying a printed circuit board, placing at least one component on the printed circuit board using a placement machine as a function of a first set of electronics manufacturing data, transferring the first set of electronics manufacturing data to a display, and comparing the first set of electronics manufacturing data with a second set of electronics manufacturing data.